My husband wants me to rehome one of our dogs and has been fixated on me doing it for over a year now. We have had her for about 5 years. What started it was she nipped my then 2 year old on the hand. My husband gave my 2 year old food, my toddler gave it to the dog, and when she grabbed it back, my dog nipped her in the hand. My husband wasn’t watching and my toddler should have been at the table. My husband thinks dogs should not be seen nor heard.

I think you should rehome your husband instead

I think you should respect your husbands wishes and rehome the dog for the sake of your relationship. Some people don’t have good relations with animals and the fact that your dog bit your child is probably enough for him to think that it’s a ticking time bomb ready to go off at any point. I don’t think there’s anything you can do to convince him and you need to ask yourself how much hell you’re willing to put yourself and your family through for the sake of one dog.

I can’t believe you’re minimizing the fact that you’re dog. bit. your child. Good lord.

This is a weird one but it sounds like you picked not such a great man to have children with. Do you envision your marriage lasting, dog or not?

He thinks dogs should be perfect angels although I’ve been the only one to train them. My dog he wants to rehome is really really sweet. I think my husband just has OCD because he can’t stand anything that comes with the dogs anymore. He should have been watching our toddler. Babies need to learn how to behave around animals. Of course dogs may react sometimes when you’re in their bubble, teasing them, pulling on their tail/ears. My husband has been berating me about rehoming our dog for about a year. He says I am choosing the dog over him, and I think it’s the other way around. I am really struggling with the concept of why he thinks it’s ok to rehome a dog that’s been with us for one year over one small incident that wasn’t her fault. It’s honestly embarrassing to me to even ask family members if they would take her in.

My dog snipped/bit my child. I re-homed the dog. That is the only rational solution. Kids walk around with food all the time. It will happen again and next time you won’t have your husband to blame. Also it sounds like you have more than one dog and he doesn’t seem to have a problem with that one. I’ve seen plenty of dog bites on children. Trust me, you don’t want that to happen to your kid. Anything you do other than re-homing the dog is you rationalizing your irrational decision.

I am proud of you for sticking your gun. It looks like it was just a one time incident a year ago?

Sounds like he is pathologically fixated on the issue for whatever reason. Props for not giving in, both for the dog’s sake and because you’d just reinforce it. Sounds like something that he could use help with, and that you can educate yourself on. At least to understand what it would take for him to work through it, for your sake and your family’s, and help you make a decision about the future

Honestly if my boyfriend gave me an ultimatum “me or the dog” he 1000% knows I would choose dog. You have kids, not as simple obviously.

Make sure your husband knows you are confident the dog would never hurt your kid. He obviously doesn’t sound like he knows how dogs communicate - they can’t talk so they bark, whine, growl, nip, etc. The dog would not “attack” your kid.

Solution: Hire a trainer to ease his nerves? And make sure dog + kid are never together unsupervised.

I’ve worked in animal welfare for a fair amount of my career and have great compassion for them. You have two issues, and they both relate to your marriage. Your priority is your family so rehome the dog. There are plenty of people who can give it a good home. The get the two of you into counseling together NOW because you clearly have issues to address.

Team Dog

My parents dog did that to me when I was little and there was never a “let’s get rid of the dog.” It was literally the same exact story.

It was very much my dads fault it happened and I didn’t even cry or remember it. Your husband needs to take responsibility. A dog is a lifetime commitment…

Yeah y’all ain’t gonna last at all lol

OP not sure if you are asking opinion or venting. You have disagreed with everyone that has provided opposite of what you wanted to hear. If you are here for opinions, I would encourage you to give serious consideration to both perspectives.

Some people don’t see dogs as beings with feelings. Still, he should respect your feelings and stop trying to put his will over yours. Divorce.

I’m afraid of dogs and even I’m team dog…

Sounds to me like your husband either 1) has a fear of dogs or 2) is resentful that you love the dog, perhaps more than him (in his mind). I agree to therapy first and then decide.

OP I was once your husband. I had hit a point where I was fed up with everything that came with being dog(two) owners. For selfish reasons I no longer wanted the responsibility and cared more about the ability to travel and not have to find someone to watch or board the dogs, the constant cleaning of the house of all the dog hair and dirt they tracked in, vet bills, etc..my SO and I used to get into so many arguments over the keeping the dogs. I eventually came around and accepted my POV was self serving rather than based on any legitimate reasons. Point being other than the isolated incident with your toddler, it doesn’t sound like there’s any other reasons that warrant his hard stance on not keeping the dog. I’d say just give him time, hopefully he comes around. Otherwise in the interim you may have to shoulder a little more of the dog duties to eliminate any variable of his dissent towards the dog.

Doesn’t sound like husband is dog person at all. Not sure if the dog came before or after relationship but if he feels dogs shouldn’t be seen or heard then sounds like you two are on opposite ends of liking dogs. Also sounds like you have more than one dog so if this is only one he is asking to rehome then it sounds like a reasonable request, especially since the dog nipped the child. That is probably enough reason for someone who doesn’t sound like a real dog lover.

Also you say it’s been over a year he has asked. The fact that he hasn’t took it upon himself to rehome could be viewed as he respecting you enough to find a great new home for dog. I guess you could also not do anything and see if he keeps bringing it up.

Poor dog. I realize that it nipped the child (toddler) but it was trying to get the food that it was being given and then taken away. If that’s the only thing that’s happened in the 5 years of ownership then clearly it’s not an angry or aggressive dog. I agree, the child should have been better supervised. I hope the kid never does anything wrong 🤷🏻‍♀️